Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Whenever I switch on the tv, in majority of the channels the debate on INDO_US nuclear deal is going on!
What does Indo-US nuclear deal mean?
On July 26 2007- The US House of Representatives voted to approve a landmark deal that will allow the United States to sell civilian nuclear technology to India.
Here is an overview of the deal and its implications:
WHAT IS THE PACT?
* The legislation amends Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. It lets the US make a one-time exception for India to keep its nuclear weapons without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
* The amendment overturns a 30-year-old US ban on supplying India with nuclear fuel and technology, implemented after India's first nuclear test in 1974.
* Under the amendment, India must separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities, and submit civilian facilities to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
WHY IS IT CONTROVERSIAL?
* Critics say it undermines the NPT, which holds that only countries which renounce nuclear weapons qualify for civilian nuclear assistance.
* The accord sends the wrong message: it could undercut a US-led campaign to curtail Iran's nuclear program, and open the way for a potential arms race in South Asia.
* India says 14 of its 22 nuclear facilities are civilian. Critics say the pact could make bomb making at the other eight easier, as civilian nuclear fuel needs will be met by the US
WHAT DO THE DEAL'S SUPPORTERS SAY?
* US President George Bush calls the deal necessary to reflect the countries' improved relations. It strengthens international security by tightening US ties to ally India, the world's biggest democracy. It also ensures some of its nuclear industry will undergo international inspection.
* New Delhi, which relies on imported oil for some 70 per cent of its energy needs, says nuclear power will help feed its rapidly expanding economy.
* France, which signed a similar deal with India in February 2006, says the move will help fight climate change and aid non-proliferation efforts.
HOW IS PAKISTAN INVOLVED?
* Pakistan sought a similar civilian technology deal with the US but was refused last in March. It is the only other confirmed nuclear power not to have signed the NPT - saying it will join after India does.
* Pakistan's own expanding nuclear program could fan the rivalry between India and Pakistan.
INTERNATIONAL RIVALRIES?
* China is said to have supported Pakistan's nuclear weapons program since the 1980s. Some analysts see the Indo-US deal as part of attempts by larger powers, the US and China, to shore up influence in South Asia by building up rival arsenals.
* The IAEA said in 2004 that Libya and Iran's nuclear programs were based on Chinese technology provided by Pakistan.
Article idea: http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=71625
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Lightning Rod
Tower of the Srirangam Temple
Being born in an orthodox hindu family, I sound a rebel whenever I query about the
scientific point of the religious rituals. One day a strange uncle (he resembled my real
uncle) gave a great explanation on the tall towers (gopurams) in the temples and the
scientific aspect of temples. I want to share it with you! Have a read.
Me: Hello uncle.
Strange Uncle: Hello Deepu. How are you?
Me: I am fine uncle. How are you?
Strange Uncle: I am fine Deepu. I heard that you are posing lot of questions
regarding the rituals in our religion.
Me: Yes uncle.
Strange Uncle: What's your doubt?
Me: I have many doubts uncle.
Strange Uncle: Ask your primary doubt.
Me: What's the point in going to the temples to worship God?
Strange Uncle: That's a good question Deepak. You should first understand that
temples are not just a place of worship. Before explaining the need of temples, I
must ask you a simple question. Do you know what a 'lightning conductor is?'
Me: Yes Uncle.
Strange Uncle: Can you explain how it works?
Me: Ya sure. It was in my class 12. I still rememeber it. It is a simple device used
to protect tall buildings from lightning.
It consists of long thick copper rod passing through the building to the ground. The
lower end of the rod is connected to a copper plate burried deeply into the ground.
You know, it has a metal plate with number of spikes to the top end of the copper
rod and kept at the top of the building to be protected.
Strange Unlce: Deepak. This is the construction part, I asked how it works!
Me: Ya, ya, I am coming to that part. Wait uncle. When a negatively charged cloud
passes over the building, you know, positive charge will be induced on the pointed
conductor.
Strange Uncle: That's enough Deepu.
Me: I didn't finish uncle.
Strange Uncle: That's enough Deepu. Now explain me how a Gopuram or tower of the
temple looks.
Me: It is in pyramid shape with a kalasam made of some metal placed on the top of
it.
Strange Uncle: Exactly, you yourself had told me the concept involved in temples.
Me: I don't get you uncle.
Strange Uncle: The kalasam in the tower is filled with cereals (the dhaniyangal in
tamil) which are insulators. And in olden days, the height of the temple tower would
be taller than all other buildings in a village. So that the whole village is
protected from lightning.
Me: So you mean that temple is just a lightning arrestor.
Strange Uncle: No, not just that. It is much more. The kalasam is full of positive
energy due to the induction. So when you visit a temple, the positive charge is
passed on to you. You become fresh. The positive charge is also passed to the other
metal statues in the temple and during car festival it is transmitted through out
the locality. Also, the reason to go and pray the God is that, positive energy is
maximum at that place!
Me: Whoa! This is totally amazing. Where did you learn all this?
Strange Uncle: Deepak! Deepak! Wake up Deepak!
Me: What?
Strange Uncle: Deepak it's late for college.
I opened my eyes to see my dad trying to wake me up (shouting at me that it's late
for college). What a weird dream? Is the scientific aspect of temples told by the
strange uncle uncle true? I couldn't think much beyond that because it was very late
for my college. I will ask this to the strange uncle when I meet him (again) :-)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
This online tool can do anything to make your image into a perfect cartoon and its pretty simple to use. Here are the following features which you would find in it:
- Cartoonizer
- Uvtar ( The image is the out come of uvtar)
- Video Cartoonizer.
Normal Photo
Cartoonised Pic
Another thing which can be done is SKETCH. There are various levels, so you can select the amount of sketch or amount of cartoonising the pic according to your wish. Another good option is GOODIES. Here various tools are available to make the image look more appealing.You will be able to download the picture after you have Cartoonized it enough and you are happy about it. So what are you waiting for?
Go to: http://www.befunky.com/
Article Idea: http://system-hacks.blogspot.com/2008/06/convert-images-videos-into-cartoon.html
If you work on windows, you know that shutting it down can be really a hassle and time taking, especially when a lot of programs are running. Most of us tend to avoid shut down due to this reason but we know that shut down is always safer and also considered good for the pc.
There are a lot of shut down tricks and tools available, which help you to achieve a smooth and fast shut down of windows without negatively affecting your pc. However this trick, is probably the simplest one and also the fastest way to shut down your pc.
Here are the steps:
1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to go to the Task Manager .
2. Click on Shut Down on the Top .
3. Highlight ‘ Turn Off ‘ and while holding down the Ctrl key, click on it .
And thats it!
Just count 1, 2, 3…5 and there you go…your pc is off !
I have tried this trick on my XP system and it has worked everytime and hasn’t negatively affected my pc. I haven’t tried this on any other version of Windows but I think it’ll work.
However I advise you to use this trick only when you are in a rush and you need a speedy shut down of your pc.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The story describes the attempts of Rudran, an attorney in Chennai High court , to solve the murder of his father DD and to lift the ban on the book "Religion, an encyclopedia of superstitions?" penned by his dad. The story also includes Detective officer James who identifies that DD was only the start to a series of murders. Whether the murderer was identified and what was the reason behind the murders has been told in a gripping fashion in a two track story line.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
[Spoiler ~~~~ Contains the plot of the story. Those who have not watched the movie or intend to do so, don’t read further]
Kamal has performed ten roles in the movie.
The roles are as follows:
1. Govind Ramasamy(a scientist in USA)
2. Rangarajan Nambi (a 12th Century Vaishnavite Youngster)
3. George Bush (American President)
4. Christian Fletcher (ex CIA Agent)
5. Balram Naidu (Telugu speaking RAW officer)
6.Avtar Singh (Punjabi Pop Singer)
7. Shingen Narahasi (Japanese Karate Master)
8. Krishnaveni (a 95 year old mentally retarded lady in a Vaishnavite Math)
9. Khalifulla Khan(an eight feet tall Muslim youngster)
10. Vincent Poovaraghan (A Dalit youngster who fights against Sand Mafia)
I have given the order of roles as they appear in the film(with importance).
The film starts with Govind (played by Kamal) narrating us the story of Rangarajan Nambi in a meeting attended by George Bush, Kalaignar Karunanidhi and Dr.Manmohan Singh. The main plot of the story starts on 20th December 2004 and ends on 26th December 2004.
Kulothunga Kulasekara Chozha-II (played by Napolean) was a Shiva Devotee. He orders the removal of statue of Lord Govindaraja Permuaal from the temple and throw it into the sea. Rangarajan Nambi tries to save the statue but only in vain. Kulothunga tells to Nambi “If you praise Lord Shiva and say ‘Om Nama Shivaya’ I would leave you or else you have to reach vaikundam (place where Lord Narayanan lives)”. Nambi closes his eyes and starts saying, “OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM”. The suspense prevails for some time. He finally finishes “Om Namo Narayana!”. The song Kallai Mattum starts, the song has been beautifully picturised showing the pain of a Vaishnavite. At the end of the song both the statue of Lord Govindaraja Permuaal and Rangarajan Nambi tied to it are thrown into the sea. All this happened in the 12th century.
Immediately the story shifts to USA (21st century). It shows Govind working in a research lab. The two wheeled mini scooter-like vehicle (as shown in the above image) used by the scientists of that lab is awesome. Govind places a vial inside a dry cold storage unit and leaves to watch the announcement of George Bush (played by Kamal again) regarding synthetic bio weapons. Anu, a monkey escapes from its cage and eats the semi-solid substance present inside a vial. The monkey dies with blood splashing out from it. They pour enormous amount of NaCl (Sodium Chloride) and arrest the virus. The semi-solid substance is a bio synthetic virus developed by Govind. It is capable of mass killing if it is let free inside a city. So Govind wants to destroy it. But he finds that his superior officer wants to sell the virus to terrorists. Govind takes the vial (containing the virus) out and escapes to his friend Suresh’s home. Suresh too works for the terrorists.
Fletcher (played by Kamal again), an ex-CIA agent comes in the helicopter to the home of Suresh. He shoots Suresh. But Suresh’s wife a Japanese girl (sister of Japanese martial arts teacher Shingen Narahasi, played by kamal) trained in karate helps Govind escape but dies in her attempt. Govind finds another friend in the car park. Along with him Govind escapes in his car. Still Fletcher chases him in the helicopter. ‘How does Fletcher trace them?’ Govind thinks and finds that it is with his cell phone. He throws the cell phone out of his friend's car into another car.
The vial was sent as a parcel to India by Govind’s friend by mistake. Govind tries to stop the Cargo Flight and goes to the airport. Fletcher follows him there too. Govind tries to escape and falls into the cargo luggage and is board into the flight.
Govind is arrested in Chennai by Balram Naidu (played by Kamal again), a RAW officer who has fondness for telugu people. Meanwhile Fletcher finds a Tamil speaking ex-CIA agent in Mallika Sherwath. He marries her and soon leaves to India. At the same time Avtar Singh (played by Kamal again) arrives at the airport for a concert. Avtar vomits blood in the airport. It attracts everyone in the airport. Making use of this, Fletcher takes custody of Govind and a police officer.
But before Fletcher takes him to custody, Govind had cleverly sent the vial to Chidambaram. Govind also escapes from Fletcher and reaches Chidambaram. In Chidambaram Govind meets Aandaal (played by Asin) in a math. The vial parcel was sent by Govind to Krishnaveni (played by Kamal again) in the math. She is mentally retarded and ninety five years old. Krishnaveni doesn’t return the vial back to Govind. Govind says that the vial contains a bio bomb, a virus. Krishnaveni runs out of the math and throws the vial into the Statue of Lord Permuaal, saying that Lord would save all from the virus. Fletcher follows Govind to Chidambaram.
Govind tries to escape with the statue and Aandaal follows Govind because it was the statue that she had been worshipping for long. On their way they are caught by a sand mafia gang and they escape from the gang while Poovaraghan (played by Kamal again) fights against sand mafia. Govind and Aandaal meet with an accident. There they meet an eight feet tall Muslim (Khalifulla played by Kamal again).
After this, what happened to the vial? Was the city saved? What is the connection to all this with the 12th century episode? All these questions are answered in an eventful manner with the Tsunami playing an important role.
Either the eight feet tall Khalifulla or the Japanese martial arts master, Kamal Hassan has proved that he is the Universal Hero. His dialogues especially in the climax when Fletcher asks the Japanese Martial arts master 'Remember Hiroshima?' to which the the Master counters him with another question , 'Do you remember Pearl Harbor?' was a treat. Michael Westmore (the make-up designer) needs a lot of appreciation for his work on Kamal’s face and body, without him Dasavatharam would not have been possible. Special words of appreciation must be given to Ravi Varman for his excellent cinematography and Devi Sri Prasad for a great BGM. Though the stunts of Fletcher (Kamal’s villain role) are super human it is enjoyable. This movie is the best (techinically) in the career of Kamal Hassan and director K.S.RaviKumar.
One doubt solved….
What is the connection between 12th century episode and Tsunami?
There are two connections
1. Butterfly effect – A small event like a butterfly flapping its wing is responsible for a tornado in some other part of the world.
2. Because the statue was thrown into the sea, it resulted in movement of tectonic plates and caused tsunami.
Kamal had not explained it in a detailed manner. In addition to the ten roles he has played on-screen he has played another off-screen role of a script writer also. He has performed all the roles perfectly. The movie runs for three hours. As a true Cinema fan I still like Anbe Sivam, but this movie is of a different genre, a scientific thriller. There may be many logical flaws.Still, it is definitely worth a watch.
Rating: ********* / 10
Bottomline: Fantastic entertainer,Defintely worth a watch!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Screenshots of Wordcount game
There are two levels in this game.
- Frame the word.
- Find the word.
Frame the word
- You begin the game by choosing either a vowel or a consonant.
- After choosing 9 letters, your count down starts!!!
- Within one minute,you have to form a word using the letters (not necassarily all the letters) in the letter pool.
- Use each letter in the pool only once!
- You score based on the length of your word and maximum length possible.
- 5 times this level is played!
Find the word
- This is simple jumble solving.
- It is a seven letter jumble (with no letter repeating).
- Within 30 seconds you have to solve the jumble.
- If it is correct you score 200 points.
Your final score is out of 700 points.
This is an acid test to your vocabulary skills!
This game is loosely based on the COUNT DOWN game which runs on channel 4 in UK.
Download link: http://kctcse.googlepages.com/WORDCOUNT.ZIP
Friday, June 6, 2008
Screenshots of the game
The game is pretty simple.
Player has the full range of throws to play, as follows :
- He/she can select one of the three, rock or paper or scissors.
- Rock wins against scissors, loses to paper and stalemates against itself.
- Paper wins against Rock, loses to scissors and stalemates against itself.
- Scissors wins against paper, loses to rock and stalemates against itself.
- You get one point for every win and your opponent gets one point for his/her win!!!
- Final winner is the one who scores the maximum points (set at the start of the game) first!!!
It's between you and the computer!
Download link: http://kctcse.googlepages.com/ROCKPAPERSCISSORS.zip
Try the game give your comments on the game.
I am waiting for your comments.
